With the Texas prison system dangerously understaffed, nearly 150 guards are now working in an empty prison that Gov. plans to convert into a state-run jail for immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
More than 1,000 prisoners at the South Texas Briscoe Unit weeks ago, but it's still unclear when and how the emptied prison will be fashioned into a Texas-operated jail for migrants facing 鈥� but not convicted of 鈥� state criminal charges.
State agencies that enforce jail standards and regulate law enforcement training have scrambled to determine what changes are needed at the unit to house a non-prison population. And 147 Briscoe officers are training to be certified as jailers while the prison remains in 鈥渕aintenance mode鈥� awaiting further instruction, according to a spokesperson for Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Meanwhile, the Texas prison system remains desperately short of guards, including that has less than half as many as it should, according to an agency report.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing this on the fly. I don鈥檛 think anyone has thought through any of this,鈥� said Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin鈥檚 public affairs school and expert on prison and jail conditions.
Briscoe鈥檚 transition from a prison to a jail for immigrants began in mid-June as part of to quell an increase in apprehensions of migrants at the Texas-Mexico border. After the Republican governor declared the rise in illegal immigration a disaster in May, he from the prison agency鈥檚 budget to instead go toward building a border wall.
In June, Abbott said at a border security event that those who cross the Texas-Mexico border illegally 鈥� a federal crime 鈥� would be subject not only to federal apprehension but to arrest and confinement for state crimes, like trespassing and human trafficking. And he directed the state regulatory commissions for jail standards and law enforcement to 鈥渆stablish alternative detention facilities to ensure enough jail capacity for illegal immigrants who are arrested for criminal activities such as trespassing,鈥� according to a press release from the governor鈥檚 office.
鈥淲hile securing the border is the federal government鈥檚 responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows,鈥� Abbott said in the release.
Days later, that TDCJ had been told to offer up the medium-security Briscoe Unit in Dilley, a small town between San Antonio and Laredo, and its staff. But logistical details on the transition are murky.
A spokesperson for the governor said Tuesday that the prison-turned-jail will only detain adult males charged with a state crime, without specifying the type of crimes. But the governor鈥檚 office said TDCJ is still 鈥渋n the process of determining any changes or training needed to operate and house individuals at the Briscoe Unit.鈥� The Texas Commission on Jail Standards鈥� executive director said Friday the agency was in the same process.
In Texas, jails primarily hold criminal defendants accused, but not convicted, of state crimes while their cases are resolved in local court and pursued by county prosecutors. State prisons incarcerate those who have been convicted of state felonies. It鈥檚 unclear which courts would hear the criminal cases of immigrants detained at Briscoe, or who would prosecute the cases.
And Texas has minimum jail standards that do not always align with how the state prisons are run. For example, Texas county jails to be cooled at or below 85 degrees, while most Texas prisons 鈥� including Briscoe 鈥� in housing areas. Deitch said that condition, along with others like spacing, attorney access and health care could be big hurdles in operating the state prison as a jail for immigrants.
鈥淚f they鈥檙e converting a prison to a jail, then it is required that the facility be in compliance with the Commission on Jail Standards minimum standards,鈥� Deitch said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just, 鈥極h, this is a prison so it can now be a jail.鈥欌��
While state officials work to figure out the standards that must be in place, the Briscoe prison officers are monitoring empty dorms and cells while their colleagues suffer from dangerous understaffing at other units throughout the state.
In May, TDCJ was short more than 5,300 officers, with about 78% of positions filled. At the Telford Unit in northeast Texas, both as assaults on prisoners and officers rose while staffing ranks dwindled. At that point, Telford was 65% staffed. The prison now only has 45% of its officer positions filled.
鈥淥ur staff are working 16 hour days 鈥� some are just going home to sleep and come back,鈥� said Jeff Ormsby, executive director of Texas prisons' American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees branch. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e putting their life on the line.鈥�
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